Good As New
by jibanyo
Summary: (**VERY slow burn, no shipping will occur until much later in the story.**) Selena, a rose-coloured fox, decides to move into the mayor-less town of Twilight. However, her expectations of an isolated country town are entirely wrong - Twilight has plenty of delights; friendship, history, romance, and an undeniable charming aura that attracts all to it.
1. Chapter One - Beginnings

**Chapter One - Beginnings**

 _Selena - Isabelle_

Taking a wavering step off the train, Selena was surprised to see nobody around. Wasn't there always a staff member at each station during the train's operating hours? Maybe this place was different…

Looking around, she saw a pile of a few town maps behind the staff counter. Unsure if she was allowed to take one, she considered it for a bit, but then grabbed one. She would need it to find her way to the Town Hall. Selena unfolded the map, her bushy tail twitching in excitement.

The town hall was pretty close by, thank goodness. Folding up the map and putting it in her bag, she put a brave smile and her face and moved onward. She couldn't let herself get nervous and give up.

It wasn't long before she arrived, the oaken door in front of her. There was certainly no hope for keeping her nerves at bay, they were back and worrying her more than ever. She took a deep breath, reached for the doorknob, and turned.

Inside was an exhausted-looking golden dog, her fur tied up in a little bun with and some bells attached that jingled with each movement she made. She was dressed in business appropriate attire, and working behind the town hall's front desk, so Selena assumed her to be a secretary. When Selena turned back around after closing the door, she saw the dog's expression was brighter at seeing somebody. "Hello, welcome to the town of Twilight! How can I help you?"

Selena couldn't help but notice the dark circles under her eyes and feel bad. She must have been tired. "Um… I was actually looking for the mayor, I think? I'm moving into town, and, well, I think I'm supposed to speak to them…?"

Isabelle seemed even more happy at the prospect of a new neighbour. "Oh, that;s wonderful! I'm sorry to say that our previous mayor just retired, we've been looking for a replacement, but for now, I'm standing in. My name's Isabelle." She held out her paw over the counter, and Selena smiled and shook it with her own.

"I'm Selena. Sorry for just dropping in so suddenly without letting you know… I was kind of a sudden decision to move here." She said sheepishly. "But it isn't too much of a hassle, is it?"

"Not at all!" Isabelle responded with a cheery expression, pulling out some paperwork from a drawer. "We'll just have to do some paperwork, then you can visit Mr. Nook to sort out some living arrangements… And then we should be all good to go. Alright, so name… That's Selena. Age?" Isabelle mumbled out loud as she read.

"I'm nineteen. My birthday is the twenty-third of February." Selena nodded, then peeked at the sheet to see what was next. "I used to live in the city; in Lakewood nearby." Isabelle nodded, then wrote it down. "Current residence… We'll worry about that later. What about employment?"

"..." Selena remained quiet for a moment, then sighed. "I'm currently unemployed as of recently, but I will be getting a job soon - hopefully." Isabelle nodded, noticing Selena's expression and deciding not to push her for details. "We're a small town, so there's not many of us living here, yet there are a few local businesses who are always looking for help. Or," Isabelle seemed eager to speak. "You could always run for mayor!"

"Mayor…? Me?" Selena seemed nervous. "I'm not quite sure I'd be fit for the job. You seem really capable yourself though, why not become mayor and then go looking for a secretary?"

"To be honest, I don't really think I'd do well as a mayor either… I'd much rather do secretary work like before." Isabelle laughed lightly, but it didn't quite seem like a laugh. "Mr. Tortimer, our old mayor, retired to go to a tropical resort island nearby. And none of our other residents want to take up being mayor now that he's gone, since he did such a good job."

"I see…" Selena frowned slightly. Sure, being mayor sounded awesome. But she didn't even know anyone here and this was her first time in Twilight. Plus, it seemed like such a job would put a lot of pressure on whoever was doing it.

"Well, the paperwork is mostly finished. I need to submit it into the system and whatnot, so would it be okay if I showed you where to find Mr. Nook on the map?" Isabelle asked this reluctantly, afraid that maybe Selena would get lost- and, she was disappointed due to the fact that she couldn't go along with her new acquaintance for a nice walk out of the town hall..

"Sure, that's fine." Selena nodded and took out the map. "Actually, I hope it's okay, but I got this map from behind the counter at the train station. I thought there would be somebody working there." She handed the map to Isabelle, who found a red marker and began to circle a building on Main Street.

"Oh, Porter took the day off today to go play some golf with his friends-" Isabelle abruptly stopped speaking, a worried expression on her face.

"What is it…?" Selena asked, worried herself.

"If Porter is gone on another golf trip… that means Mr. Nook is gone as well…" Isabelle sighed deeply. "We can't get any living arrangements set up for you without him…"

"I can just hop on the next train and visit my uncle." Selena's eyes then widened. "But… that train was the last one today, wasn't it?"

"Um…" Isabelle trailed off, desperately trying to think of something. "Oh! You could stay at my place if you needed to! We, um, don't have any extra beds… but we do have a couch? If that's okay?" Isabelle offered a smile, hoping that would be enough.

"Y-you don't have to do that!" The rose-coloured fox exclaimed, waving her paws around. "That's too much. I'm sure I can just crash at the train station. There's benches there -"

"But, Selena, it's the middle of fall. It's going to be freezing in there." She pleaded. "I promise it's okay, I don't mind and I'm sure my twin brother won't either. It won't be a bother at all! I just don't want you having nowhere to rest…"

"You're sure?" Selena asked reluctantly, staring down at the ground nervously. "Of course I am!" Isabelle exclaimed, then rolled up Selena's map and handed it back to her. "I'll call a town council meeting first, though. I'm sure everyone wants to meet their new neighbour!"

Selena gulped nervously. "If I can ask… How many people are in the town council?"

Isabelle's expression brightened, excited. "Everyone living here! Minus Mr. Nook, Porter, Hopper and Mr. Blathers, since they're on a golfing trip. So that would be…" She paused her preparations to do the math in her head. "Including me and you, fourteen of us. Eighteen when the others are here!"

Selena breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't as many people as she thought. "Huh. Guess Twilight is as small as a town as everyone says." She stated neutrally, yet Isabelle couldn't hear her; she was distracted with setting up an announcement over the town's loudspeakers.

"Hello everyone! How's your afternoon going? I'd like to call a town council meeting in the plaza, please! We have a new neighbour!"


	2. Chapter Two - Neighbours

**A/N:** Just as a little note, the story will always remain in third person, yet will sometimes mainly focus on different characters. For example, this chapter is focusing on Digby and Selena, and as you may have seen, last chapter focused on Selena and Isabelle. The character each chapter is focusing on will be named underneath the chapter name, as seen below!

Thanks for reading!

 **Chapter Two - Neighbours**

 _Digby - Isabelle - Selena_

During his walk home after work, Digby was surprised to hear his sister's voice over the town's speakers. It had been a while since they were last used… Perhaps not since Tortimer had retired. His floppy ears perked up as he turned his head to listen:

 _"Hello everyone! How's your afternoon going? I'd like to call a town council meeting in the plaza, please! We have a new neighbour!"_

That seemed to put a spring in his step. It was always nice to have a fresh face around to befriend. It had also been a long time since somebody new moved in. He couldn't remember the last time that had occurred.

Crossing the train tracks that led back to town, he turned to face the plaza nearby. Nobody else was there yet, so he wandered over to the empty wooden planter box and sat on the edge, glad to give his paws a rest. He had been on his feet, busy with work, almost all day.

It wasn't long before he saw the yellow blur of his sister approaching, with a taller, pink tinted animal next to her. She appeared to be… some kind of wolf? A large cat…? It was hard to tell. As they advanced he could see that the new animal was actually a fox. Maybe. She reminded him an awful lot of Redd, who visited the town every now and then to try and trick people into buying his fake artwork. Actually, it was more so of a game - residents of the town would try to guess which one was real and hope for the best. Redd himself hadn't even realized that his art gallery became more of a gambling hot spot.

"Hey Digby!" Isabelle called out as some more animals began approaching. "How was work today?"

"Oh, it was good! Got a call from Lyle today, he wanted us to set up a new model. It was hard work but it looks really nice." Digby recalled. "You should check it out tomorrow, sis!" Isabelle's twin brother prompted, to which Isabelle replied with a meek "Maybe…"

Selena watched on with curiosity. Was Isabelle really that busy, that she couldn't even pay her supposed brother a visit at work..? (She assumed they were siblings. Isabelle mentioned having a brother and they looked undeniably similar.)

Digby, disappointed, turned his gaze to the new resident. She was quiet so far, but seemed to get more uncomfortable with each animal that came by. Getting an idea, he approached her and tried to ease her worries by distracting her.

"Hey there, my name's Digby. Welcome to Twilight!" He offered her a smile as warm as the sun. She seemed comforted by this, having to look down and away from the small crowd that arrived. "Oh… Hi. I'm Selena. It's really nice to be here. Everyone seems so kind - even though I've only met you and your sister." She rubbed the back of her neck, a bit embarrassed by her weak introduction.

"You have nothing to worry about, really. Everyone's very welcoming, I'm sure you'll have no problems getting accustomed!" Digby proclaimed enthusiastically and held out a paw to shake. Selena shook back somewhat nervously as more people formed a circle semicircle around her, chattering amongst themselves. She nodded slowly to Digby's statement, unsure.

"Thanks for coming everyone! Just one moment, let me do a headcount…" Isabelle announced to the town's residents, and began counting quietly under her breath. "...Thirteen." The golden pooch made a confused expression and studied everyone present yet again. Then she sighed. "Everyone… Where is Stitches?"

"Probably napping again." A pink pelican spoke up, rolling her eyes with her arms crossed. "Can we just get on with this? I have places to be, things to do." A white pelican standing by her side nudged her with a wing. "Be nice to our new friend, Phyllis." She scolded quietly, then approached Isabelle. "I'll go wake him up and bring him here."

Isabelle nodded. "Thanks, Pelly." She seemed to compose herself, brightening up again. "Thanks for coming, everyone! I'd like you all to meet our new resident, Selena!"

Everyone's eyes turned to the coral fox, expecting her to speak up with an introduction. However, all she could manage was a stammering "H-hi!" before blanking out entirely.

A pink alpaca, seeing her distress, spoke up. "It's alright, sweetie. We don't bite." Her comforting, almost motherly voice seemed to help Selena as she appeared less shaky.

Nodding, Selena tried again. "Hi, everyone… Um, I'm Selena… A fox…?" She offered shyly, then shook her head to try and snap herself out of it. "I'm really looking forward to meeting you all. Twilight seems like a very nice town from what I've seen so far…"

The warm smiles she got from most of the residents cheered her up. It wasn't so bad - she could do this.

Isabelle, as bright and happy as ever, then spoke up. "Then let's get everyone to come up and greet Selena one by one. Line up, everyone!"

She couldn't do _that_.

Everyone but Isabelle and Digby lined up, and soon, Pelly returned with a sleepy bear who Selena assumed to be Stitches, and they got in the line as well. The first one up was a bubblegum pink octopus who seemed eager to meet Selena.

'Hiya! I'm Marina, it's really nice to meet you! I gotta say, I really love your bag. It's super cute with all the buttons and pins you have on it, blurp!" Marina seemed to smile, yet it was difficult to tell as her mouth was - well, it was an octopus' mouth.

"Thanks…!" Selena managed to speak, her tail twitching a little out of nervousness. She took note of Marina waved goodbye, then the next person approached.

Three hedgehogs approached, all similar-looking in appearance. Two were practically identical since they were dressed the same, the third was wearing what seemed like a flight attendant's outfit. "Hi there." The blue one called out first, waving. "I'm Mabel. This is my sister Sable, and my other sister, Labelle. We're the Able Sisters!"

Selena returned a nervous smile. "Your names are all really neat. But you must get that a lot."

"We do." Labelle spoke neutrally and indifferently, which unnerved Selena a bit. Sable, trying to make up for her sister's cold behaviour, spoke up: "We run two joined shops on Main Street. You should pop in and say hi sometime!" In response, Selena nodded her head eagerly. "Sounds good!"

After the three siblings left, the other pair of sisters from before approached. Two pelicans, one pure white and the other a pinkish colour. "Good afternoon!" The seemingly kinder one said cheerfully with a wave of the wing. "I'm Pelly. I worked the daytime shift at the Post Office. I'm looking forward to seeing you there!"

When the other pelican didn't speak up, Pelly nudged her with a wing yet again. The other sighed, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I'm Phyllis. Pelly's sister. I work the night time shift." She turned around. Try not to bother me." Was the last thing she said before walking away, leaving an upset Pelly behind. After apologizing on behalf of her sister, she left as well, leaving room for the next villager to approach.

"Yo! Pleasure to meet 'ya, stuffin'!" A multi-coloured cub approached, and Selena recognized him as the animal who was napping and missed the announcement. "I'm Stitches, but you probably already knew that, huh…" He said, embarrassed. "Sorry about being late. I was having a nap. Hope you weren't upset or anything, stuffin'!"

Selena took note of his verbal tic, then remembered that Marina had one as well. They were quite odd, but almost seemed to match up with their appearances, somehow.

"No, o-of course not. It's understandable, everyone gets into a deep sleep sometimes." Selena reassured the bear cub, scratching the back of her head restlessly and messing up her fur.

"Especially me! All the time, stuffin'!" He proclaimed then began to walk backwards, away from her. "Anyways, I'm gonna go back home and resume my nap. See ya!" Stitches said in farewell, giving room for a dark red coloured dog to walk up.

"Ha, I hope Stitches wasn't too much for you. He's quite the handful. Me and Marina would know, what what." She offered Selena a smirk. "Name's Cherry! Looking forward to hangin' out with a sweetheart like you." Cherry winked at Selena, which made her giggle, as that somewhat flirty statement came out incredibly awkward, and Cherry didn't seem to notice.

Cherry then winked again and walked off, then two children - very clearly twins - approached. They didn't say anything, just stared up at Selena with wide, blank eyes.

Selena, confused at their behaviour, turned to look at Isabelle and Digby - who were at her sides - yet they didn't seem affected by the children's odd manner of behaviour. "Um… Hi?" She offered quietly, looking back to the identical twins.

"I'm Timmy." The one on the left said. "I'm Tommy." The other spoke. Then one approached - they moved so quickly that Selena couldn't tell which one it was - and handed the fox a business card that read "Nookling Junction". And that was it, the twins walked away after that, leaving another pelican in a mailman's outfit to walk up.

He stared at the twins as they walked away, back towards Main Street, then turned to Selena as he approached. "I don't know what's wrong with those two. They're very eerie like that, but everyone just seems to… Accept it, somehow." He shrugged. "I dunno. Sorry for that weird introduction, my name is Pete. I'm the mailman, I work alongside Pelly and Phyllis - you met them earlier." He seemed to put a specific emphasis on Phyllis' name. "Anyways. I hope you enjoy your time here in Twilight! Look forward to me putting stuff in your mailbox." He laughed sheepishly before walking away, turning around to offer a friendly wave.

Next up were two alpacas, arms linked. They both wore aprons, and the male and light blue alpaca had many tools sticking out of the pockets. "Hi!" The pink alpaca from earlier greeted, and Selena instantly felt calmer. She seemed to radiate an almost motherly aura. "I'm Reese, and this is my husband Cyrus." He gave a slight wave in greeting. "We both own and operate a new store. It isn't on Main Street, but it's here in town - called Re-tail!" Reese beamed. "I hope you come visit us sometime, Selena."

They both made the move to leave, but before they did, Reese approached Selena and whispered in her ear: "The last one you'll meet is kind of grumpy. He's going to be rude. Please don't listen to him if he says something mean, alright?" Reese ruffled the top of Selena's head, her fur even more messed up from before. Reese really was kind, she thought to herself.

The married couple left and then the animal at the end of the line had arrived. He looked Selena up and down, analyzing her with a scrutinizing look. Grunting, he crossed his flippers together, and met Selena's eyes with his red ones. Selena realized that he certainly didn't seem intimidating due to his very short height, but the look in his blood red eyes certainly was.

"I'm Hopper. Remember it. You better not go causing trouble for us like the _last one_." The penguin seemed to frown even deeper with his beak. "And don't think that innocent look will deceive me, fox. I can see a scheming relative of Redd from a mile away." He turned his gaze to Isabelle, and his expression softened. "Keep up the good work, Isabelle." And with that, he waddled away. Yet again, it would have been almost funny, but after what he just said… Selena was in no mood to find anything laughable.

Isabelle was frowning deeply. She turned to face Selena. "I'm really sorry, Selena, I thought he was on the golf trip with Mr. Nook and the others… I thought today would be a good day for introductions, since he wouldn't be here…" She trailed off, watching Hopper waddle away.

"It's fine." Selena said gravely, therefore it was obvious that it wasn't fine. Her body posture changed to a more defensive one, her arms crossed loosely as she avoided looking at Digby or Isabelle.

"Are you related to Redd?" Digby asked before realizing it probably wasn't the best time to say that - he, however, went on. "I kind of remembered him when I saw you earlier." Isabelle shot him a shameful look for his blunt statement, which made him retract a little. "S-sorry."

"No, it's okay…" Selena sighed, and was able to look the two pups in the eye. "Yeah, Redd is my uncle. But please know that I really don't approve of his… methods for selling things. It's unfair and cruel to the people who spend so many bells on his art. I suppose it isn't as bad now. I've heard that people have been treating his art gallery like a gamble… But I still don't agree with it." She rubbed her arm, clearly uncomfortable.

"It's alright Selena, we understand." Isabelle butted in before Digby could say anything rude again, and gave Selena a lackluster smile. "Now, I think it's time we get home, Digby - we have a guest tonight."

Digby's eyes widened and he tried to remember Isabelle mentioning any time recently that they would be having a guest, and his mind went blank. "Uh… What?"

Isabelle laughed at her brother's puzzled face. "Mr. Nook is gone on his golf trip, remember?"

"But what does he have to do with us having a guest?" He seemed even more perplexed than earlier, which made Isabelle laugh more and Selena offer a quiet chuckle. "Hey, c'mon, don't laugh at me! What's going on?"

"Since Mr. Nook isn't here to help Selena with a tent or anything, she'll be staying with us tonight. The train's last run was Selena's stop, so she can't go back to Lakewood for the night." Isabelle explained, to which Selena confirmed with a silent nod.

"Ohh…" Digby exclaimed. He turned to his house guest. "Well, make yourself at home!"

"Digby, we're not even there yet. We haven't even left the plaza." Isabelle said, trying to hold in a laugh. "Oh yeah…" Digby face palmed. "Sorry. Let's get going."

Selena managed to laugh as well, feeling the tension from earlier slip away. These two really seemed to know how to cheer her up.

She wouldn't admit it, but she was glad she could stay over with them; they seemed like they'd be great friends and neighbours. Oh yes, they would certainly be neighbours - Twilight was such a small town. It brought a smile to the fox's face when she realized that after this, this certainly wouldn't be the last opportunity she would have to spend time with the two pups.

And as she reflected on all the new neighbours she met today, the predominantly friendly and good ones, mixed with the strange ones and rude ones… She realized that she certainly hadn't made a mistake in choosing to move here, to the town of Twilight.


End file.
